Huge Jigsaw Puzzle

Who would’ve thought that shipping containers would make for a good canvas? But that’s exactly what’s now on display in the Dubai desert.

Red Bull Curates: Jigsaw is a spectacular street-art creation by Australian artist Guido van Helten. The massive installation, painted out of formation before being assembled to reveal the final artwork was unveiled this week at Dubai’s 117LIVE’s Autism Rocks Arena.

So just how much work has gone into creating the largest reconfigurable-format street art in the world?

Here are the facts you need to know:

1. A total of 63 containers were used for the project
Measuring 135m long and 12m high in total, Guido painted fragments of his creation on separate shipping containers.

2. For something that big, you need a LOT of paint
500l of Jotun Jotashield to be precise! All paint was transported to the location where Guido mixed, added, sprayed and more during the creation of the project.

3. Painting requires patience
Jigsaw took Guido a total of 288 hours to complete. Spread over 18 days, it was definitely challenging bringing this project to life under the Dubai heat.

4. The installation weighs a lot
This is a piece of art that’s guaranteed not to move about in the weather! The installation weighs 207 tonnes. In fact, two 100-tonne cranes had to be used over the course of 48 hours to position the painted containers to form the ginormous jigsaw.

5. The individual behind the ‘eyes’
The completed installation consists of a pair of eyes. The inspiration behind the piece came about after Guido scoured the city, looking for a subject, when he came across a camel herder working nearby the site.